Sharing media items with pass phrases

ABSTRACT

A sharing service receives a request to store a media item stored on an electronic book reader device for sharing with one or more other content rendering devices. In response, the sharing service associates a pass phrase with the request. The sharing service then provides the media item to those devices (e.g., eBook reader devices) that provide the pass phrase to the sharing service within a predetermined amount of time.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/715,780, filed on Mar. 2, 2010, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is related to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/823,611, filed on Aug. 25, 2006, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/548,111, filed on Oct. 10, 2006, both entitled UTILIZING PHRASETOKENS IN TRANSACTIONS and both incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/352,970, filed on Jan. 13, 2009, entitled GENERATING AND SUGGESTINGPHRASES and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

A large and growing population of users is enjoying entertainmentthrough the consumption of digital media items (or simply “mediaitems”), such as music, movies, images, electronic books, and so on. Theusers employ various electronic devices to consume such media items.Among these electronic devices are electronic book reader devices,cellular telephones, personal digital assistant (PDA), portable mediaplayers, tablet computers, netbooks, and the like. As the quantity ofavailable electronic media content continues to grow, along withincreasing proliferation of devices to consume that media content,finding ways to enhance user experience continues to be a priority.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similaror identical items or features.

FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture in which a user opts to share a mediaitem stored on a device of the user with a group of other clientdevices, including multiple electronic book reader devices. Each ofthese client devices receives the media item from a sharing serviceafter sending a pass phrase associated with the shared media item to thesharing service.

FIGS. 2-4 illustrate user interfaces rendered by the device of the userof FIG. 1. As illustrated, the user employs a sharing application toshare a media item stored on an electronic book reader device of theuser.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of selected modules of the sharing service ofFIG. 1. This figure also illustrates that the sharing service storesmedia items, each associated with a respective pass phrase. When anelectronic book reader device provides a pass phrase to the service, theservice grants access to the corresponding media item to the electronicbook reader device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of selected modules of an electronic bookreader device that has received the media item being shared by the userof FIG. 1.

FIGS. 7-9 illustrate a flow diagram showing a process of sharing a mediaitem stored on an electronic book reader device with a group ofreceiving devices, including electronic book reader devices that providethe pass phrase associated with the shared media item.

FIG. 10 illustrates an interface of an electronic book reader devicethat facilitates entry of a pass phrase for submitting the phrase to thesharing service of FIG. 1 to receive a shared media item.

FIG. 11 illustrates a display screen of the electronic book readerdevice of FIG. 10 after the device has received the shared media item.This display screen indicates which of the media items stored on theelectronic book reader device are “shared” items, including the itemjust received from the sharing service.

FIG. 12 illustrates a configuration in which an electronic book readerdevice shares a document with multiple other electronic book readerdevices via the sharing service of FIG. 1.

FIG. 13 illustrates a configuration in which an electronic book readerdevice shares a portion of an electronic book with multiple otherelectronic book reader devices via the sharing service of FIG. 1.

FIG. 14 illustrates a configuration in which an electronic book readerdevice shares an article in a periodical with multiple other electronicbook reader devices via the sharing service of FIG. 1. In addition tosharing the article, the sharing service offers each electronic bookreader device the opportunity to subscribe to the periodical.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram showing a process of storing a media item forlater access by electronic book reader devices that provide the passphrase associated with the stored media item.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram showing a process of sending a request tostore a media item at a sharing service for sharing the item with anelectronic book reader device that provides a pass phrase associatedwith the item.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure describes an architecture and techniques in which a userleverages a sharing service to share a media item stored on a device ofthe user with one or more other content rendering devices. These contentrendering devices receive the shared media item in response to providinga pass phrase associated with the media item to the sharing service.

The media item may be of various types of digital content, such as adocument, an audio file, a video file, an image, an electronic book, andso on. Both the device on which the media item is originally stored andthe receiving content rendering devices may be embodied in many ways,such as electronic book reader devices, cellular telephones, personaldigital assistant (PDA), portable media players, tablet computers,netbooks, and the like. However, in specific implementations describedbelow, the shared media item is originally stored on an electronic book(eBook) reading device (“eBook reader device”), while the devices thatreceive the shared media item from the sharing service also compriseseBook reader devices.

In these implementations, the user initially sends a request to thesharing service (from the eBook reader device or otherwise) to share themedia item stored on the eBook reader device for a predetermined amountof time (e.g., 2 hours, 2 weeks, etc.). The sharing service thenassociates a pass phrase (e.g., “Pink Gorilla”) with the request andcommunicates this pass phrase to the user. The eBook reader device (oranother device of the user) then uploads the media item to the sharingservice, which stores the item in association with the pass phrase forthe predetermined amount of time.

In the interim, the user who wishes to share the document communicatesthe pass phrase to those users with whom the sharing user desires toshare the item. For instance, the sharing user may send the pass phraseto these users via an email, a text message, or the like. Conversely, ininstances where these users are physically proximate to the sharinguser, the sharing user may simply audibly recite the pass phrase tothese users. Each of these users then sends the pass phrase to thesharing service via their respective eBook reader devices or otherwise.In response, the sharing service downloads some or the entire sharedmedia item to each of the eBook reader devices. In addition, these usersmay alternatively or additionally request that the sharing service sendthe media item to a different type of user device, such as a laptop, acellular phone, or the like.

After the predetermined amount of time elapses, the sharing serviceremoves the media item from storage. Should the sharing user desire toshare another media item with a group of users, this user may again senda request to the sharing service, which will again associate a passphrase with this new request. As such, the described architecture andtechniques facilitate convenient sharing of media items amongst devices,such as eBook reader devices and the like.

Architectural Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture 100 in which a user 102operates a device 104(1), 104(2), . . . , 104(N) to share a media item106 stored on the same or a different device 104(1)-(N). As illustrated,the user 102 shares the media item 106 with a group of content renderingdevices 108(1), 108(2), . . . , 108(S). Both the devices 104(1)-(N) andthe devices 108(1)-(S) are variously configured with differentfunctionality to enable consumption of one or more types of media items.The media items may be any type or format of digital content, including,for example, electronic texts (e.g., documents of any format, eBooks,electronic periodicals, such as digital magazines and newspapers, etc.),digital audio (e.g., music, audible books, etc.), digital video (e.g.,movies, television, short clips, etc.), images (e.g., art, photographs,etc.), and multi-media content.

As discussed further herein, a media item stored on one device may betransmitted to a sharing service 110, which stores the document inassociation with a pass phrase. The sharing service 110 then passes themedia item to those devices that send the appropriate pass phrase to thesharing service 110.

In the illustrated architecture 100, essentially any type of contentrendering device may be used to share and consume media items. In thisexample, the user 102 operates a desktop computer 104(1) to share themedia item 106 stored on the eBook reader device 104(N). Of course, theuser 102 could instead use any other device (e.g., the cellular phone104(2)) to share the media item 106 stored on the eBook reader device104(N), or the user 102 could simply share the media item 106 directlyfrom the eBook reader device 104(N). In addition, while FIG. 1illustrates the user 102 sharing a media item stored on the eBook readerdevice 104(N), the techniques apply equally to instances where the user102 desires to share a media item stored on a desktop computer, alaptop, a cellular phone or any other device.

FIG. 1 further illustrates that the user 102 may share the media item106 with a multitude of device types, including eBook reader devices108(1), 108(2) and 108(S), as well as any other type of device, such asa multifunction communication device (e.g., the iPhone® device fromApple, Inc.), a portable digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, awireless headset, an entertainment system, a portable media player, atablet computer, a camera, a video camera, a netbook, a notebook, adesktop computer, a gaming console, a DVD player, an media center or anyother type of device.

In the illustrated example, the user 102 desires to share the media item106, which comprises a personal document stored on the eBook readerdevice 104(N) and entitled “Grace's Outline for Criminal Procedure.”This document may be in a Portable Document Format (PDF), a MicrosoftWord® format from Microsoft, Inc. or any other document format. Inaddition, this document may also be stored on one or more other devicesassociated with the user 102. For instance, the user may connect theeBook reader device 104(N) (in a wired or wireless manner) to thedesktop computer 104(1) in order to allow the user 102 to manage themedia items and other files stored on the eBook reader device 104(N). Assuch, the media item 106 may also be stored on or accessible by thedesktop computer 104(1).

The user 102 then utilizes the desktop computer (or the eBook readerdevice 104(N) in some instances) to send a request, to the sharingservice 110 and over a network 112, to share the media item 106. Thatis, the user 102 requests that the sharing service 110 make some or allof the media item 106 available to one or more other devices, such asthe devices 108(1)-(S). The network 112 is representative of any one orcombination of multiple different types of networks, such as theInternet, cable networks, cellular networks, wireless networks, andwired networks. One example of a wireless technology and associatedprotocols is the Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) wireless networkingtechnologies defined according to IEEE 802.11 standards, while anotherexample is a cellular network.

As illustrated, the sharing service 110 is embodied as one or moreservers that collectively have processing and storage capabilities toreceive the request from the device 104(1) of the user 102. In responseto receiving such a request, the sharing service 110 communicates withthe device 104(1) and/or the eBook reader device 104(N) for the purposeof making the media item 106 available to the devices 108(1)-(S). Insome implementations, the sharing service 110 makes media itemsavailable to these devices by storing the media items, although in otherimplementations the servers merely facilitate communications betweendevices or may provide pointers to the media items.

The servers of the sharing service 110 may be embodied in any number ofways, including as a single server, a cluster of servers, a server farmor data center, and so forth, although other server architectures (e.g.,mainframe) may also be used. Alternatively, the sharing service 110 maybe embodied as a client device, such as desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, an eBook reader device and so forth.

In the illustrated example, the sharing service 110 includes storage 114for storing media items 116. These items may include audio files 118,documents 120, video files 122 or any other form of media item, asdescribed above. After receiving a request to make a media itemavailable to multiple devices, such as the request sent by the user 102from the desktop computer 104(1), the sharing service associates a passphrase with the request.

The pass phrase comprises a string of alphanumeric characters that, whensupplied by another device, grants the device access to the media itemassociated with the phrase. For instance, the pass phrase may compriseor consist of two or more grammatically correct words, such as “PinkGorilla,” “Good to Go,” “Feisty Mango,” “Walking in the Rain,” or anyother group of multiple words. In instances where the pass phrasecomprises multiple grammatically correct words, these words may beseparated by a space (“Pink Gorilla”) or they may not (“PinkGorilla”).In addition, these phrases may be free from numerals, punctuation and/orany other symbol other than letters.

In some instances, the sharing service 110 generates and/or selects thepass phrase and provides the pass phrase to the requesting device (e.g.,the desktop computer 104(1)) via the network 112. In other instances,however, the user 102 may select the pass phrase and provide this phraseto the sharing service 110. The sharing service 110 may then associatethis received pass phrase with the request.

A different pass phrase may be associated with each request from aparticular user, such as the user 102. For instance, if the user 102desires to share a first media item, the sharing service 110 may providea first pass phrase (e.g., “Pink Gorilla”) to the user 102. If, at alater time, the user 102 desires to share a different media item, thesharing service 110 may provide a different pass phrase (e.g., “FeistyMango”). In other instances, however, the pass phrase is a phrase thatis uniquely and persistently associated with a user and/or a useraccount of the user. That is, the pass phrase may be a phrase that theuser 102 uses repeatedly to share documents with devices. For instance,the user 102 may consistently share media items with use of the passphrase “Pink Gorilla” that is unique to the user 102.

One type of phrase that is persistently and uniquely associated with auser account is a transaction phrase token, described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/548,111, incorporated by reference above. Asthis application describes, a transaction phrase token may bind to oneor more aspects of a user account, such as a payment instrument andshipping address of the user 102. As such, the user may conducttransactions with retailers (e.g., e-commerce retailers) with use of thetransaction phrase token. Furthermore, the user 102 may share documentsvia the sharing service 110 with use of the transaction phrase token.

In one example described above, the sharing service 110 selects a passphrase (e.g., “Pink Gorilla”) and sends this pass phrase to the device104(1) of the user 102 that sent the request. Before or after receivingthe identification of the pass phrase, the device 104(1) sends the mediaitem 106 to the sharing service 110 for storing. In instances where theeBook reader device 104(N) stores the media item, however, the eBookreader device 104(N) may send this item 106 wirelessly to the sharingservice 110 in lieu of the desktop computer 104(1) sending the item 106.

In either instance, after receiving the item the sharing service 110stores the media item 106 in association with the corresponding passphrase. FIG. 1 illustrates that the sharing service 110 has stored themedia item 106 in association with a pass phrase 124, “Pink Gorilla.”Additionally, in instances where the sharing service 110 receives amedia item in a format this is not compatible with software running onan eBook reader device, the sharing service 110 converts this item to aformat that is compatible with this software. The sharing service 110then stores the media item in the original format and/or in theconverted format.

At this point, the user 102 provides the pass phrase to those users ordevices with whom the user 102 desires to share the media item 106. Theuser 102 may provide this pass phrase audibly (e.g., in-person, over thephone, etc.) or electronically (e.g., by sending an email, a textmessage, etc.). After receiving the pass phrase, each of these usersthen sends a request for the media item 106 to the sharing service 110accompanied by the phrase. In response to receiving these requestsaccompanied by the phrase “Pink Gorilla,” the sharing service 110retrieves the media item associated with this phrase and sends the mediaitem 106 to the corresponding devices. FIG. 1 illustrates, for instance,that the eBook reader device 108(1) has received the media item 106 fromthe sharing service 110.

The device 104(1) that sends the original request, the sharing service,and the content rendering devices 108(1)-(S) that receive the sharedmedia item may be configured in numerous ways. Several exampleconfigurations are provided below with respect to FIGS. 2-6. However,these are merely examples, and not intended to be limiting.

Example Devices and Sharing Service

FIG. 2 illustrates example components of the device 104(1) that user 102employs to share the media item 106 stored on the eBook reader device104(N) of the user 102. FIG. 2 also illustrates an example userinterface rendered by the device 104(1) that facilitates the sharing. Asdiscussed above, while FIG. 2 illustrates the user 102 sharing the mediaitem 106 with use of the device 104(1), the user 102 may also share themedia item directly from the eBook reader device 104(N) in otherimplementations. Furthermore, while FIG. 2 illustrates sharing a mediaitem stored on an eBook reader device, the techniques apply equally toinstances where the user 102 shares media items stored on other devicetypes.

FIG. 2 illustrates that the device 104(1) includes one or moreprocessing units 202 and a memory 204, which stores a media item sharingapplication 206. The media sharing application 206 enables the user 102to send a request to the sharing service 110 to share an item, such asthe media item 106 stored on the eBook reader device 104(N) that iscommunicatively coupled (wired or wirelessly) to the device 104(1).While FIG. 2 illustrates a client-based application, the user may employa web-based interface provided by a web-based application in otherinstances.

As illustrated, the device 104(1) renders a user interface 208 thatlists the media items 210 stored on the eBook reader device 104(N).These example items include document 212(1), 212(2) and 212(3), as wellas an audio file 214. In this example, the user 102 chooses to share thedocument 212(2). In response to selecting the document 212(2), thesharing application 206 renders a menu 216 that includes an option 218to “share this item.” When selected, this option 218 sends a request tothe sharing service 110 to store the document 212(2) for later access byother devices, such as the content rendering devices 108(1)-(S) of FIG.1.

As illustrated, the menu 216 may also include an option 220 entitled“un-share this item.” In response to selecting this option 220, thedevice 104(1) sends a request to make a previously shared itemunavailable to requesting devices. In response, the sharing service 110may remove the item from storage 114 of the sharing service or maysimply deny later requests for the item. FIG. 2 illustrates this option220 as grayed out, as the sharing service 110 is not currently sharingthe selected document 212(2).

FIG. 3 illustrates a menu 302 provided by the sharing application 206after the user 102 selects to share the document 212(2) via the menu 216of FIG. 2. This menu 302 allows the user 102 to choose whether toreceive a pass phrase from the sharing service 110 (by selecting option304) or whether to select a phrase herself (by selecting option 306). Insome instances, the device 104(1) and/or the eBook reader device 104(N)may be pre-associated with a pass phrase (e.g., a transaction phrasetoken), in which case the menu omits any mention of selecting betweenthe option 304 and 306.

In the illustrated example, the user 102 selects the option 304. Here,the menu 302 further allows the user 102 to select a desired level ofsecurity 308. In this non-limiting example, the user 102 selects toreceive a phrase having a relatively low level of security in lieu of amedium or high level of security. A pass phrase having a relativelyhigher level of security may consist of more words and/or more complexwords than when compared to a pass phrase being relatively less secure.

The user 102 may also elect to receive an additional piece ofinformation (e.g., a numerical PIN) in instances where the user 102believes that security is of the utmost importance. In these instances,a requesting device must include the pass phrase (e.g., “Pink Gorilla”)and the additional piece of information (e.g., “8833”) in a request tothe sharing service 110 to receive the media item 106. As such, the menu302 allows the user 102 to decide upon a security level while takinginto account the nature of the item being shared, the desired difficultyin remembering the phrase, and other factors.

The menu 302 further allows the user 102 to select an amount of time 310for which the user 102 desires to share the document 212(2). This timemay comprise any length of time, such as five minutes, two hours, twoweeks, or any other amount of time, including for an indefinite amountof item. Here, the menu 302 provides a drop-down menu and, hence, adiscrete number of time periods to choose from. However, otherimplementations instead allow the user 102 to enter a custom amount oftime, or the sharing service may store the media item for an indefiniteamount of time. In the illustrated example, after making the appropriateselections of the options discussed above, the user 102 selects a“Share!” icon 312.

FIG. 4 illustrates the user interface 208 after the user 102 hasselected the share icon 312 of FIG. 3. As illustrated, the interface 208now includes an identification 402 of the pass phrase associated withthe request to share the document 212(2). Continuing the example fromthe above, the identified pass phrase is “Pink Gorilla.” While thesharing service 110 provides this pass phrase in this example, the userinterface 208 may provide the same or a similar identification of theassociated pass phrase when the user 102 provides the phrase. Whetherthe service 110 or the user 102 selects the phrase, the user 102 sharesthe associated phrase with those individuals or devices with whom theuser 102 desires to share the document 212(2).

FIG. 5 illustrates a basic configuration of the sharing service 110. Asillustrated, the sharing service 110 includes one or more processingunits 502, a memory 504 and a network interface 506. The memory includesthe storage 114, which stores media items 508(1), 508(2), . . . , 508(P)that have been received for sharing from client devices, such as thedevice 104(1) and the eBook reader device 104(N). The memory 504 storesthese media items 508(1)-(P) in association with corresponding passphrases 510(1), 510(2), . . . , 510(Q). For instance, the document212(2) may be stored in association with the phrase “Pink Gorilla.”

The memory 504 also stores, in this example, a pass phrase generator512, which serves to generate pass phrases for association with sharedmedia items. The generator 512 may generate these phrases in any numberof ways, such as by mining corpuses of text for phrases of varyinglengths, by combining words according to part-of-speech templates or inany other manner. In some instances, the pass phrase generator 512generates these pass phrases in a manner similar to the techniquesdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/352,970, incorporatedin its entirety above.

Finally, the memory 504 includes a media item sharing module 514, whichworks in tandem with the network interface 506 to communicate withclient devices to facilitate item sharing. For instance, the sharingmodule 514 and the network interface 506 function to receive a sharerequest from a device, store a received media item for sharing andprovide an identification of a pass phrase associated with this storedmedia item. After the media item is stored in association with the passphrase, the module 514 and the interface 506 may receive a request foran item accompanied by a pass phrase, may determine a media itemassociated with the phrase and may provide the associated media item tothe requesting device.

FIG. 6 illustrates example components that might be implemented in theeBook reader device 108(1) that requests and receives the shared mediaitem 106 of FIG. 1. The eBook reader device 104(N) that shares this itemmay also include these components. In this example, the eBook readerdevice 108(1) is a dedicated, handheld eBook reader device equipped witha passive display to present electronic documents, such as electronicbooks or “eBooks”. The terms “book” and/or “eBook,” as used herein,include electronic or digital representations of printed works, as wellas digital content that may include text, multimedia, hypertext, and/orhypermedia. Examples of printed and/or digital works include, but arenot limited to, books, magazines, newspapers, periodicals, journals,reference materials, telephone books, textbooks, anthologies,instruction manuals, proceedings of meetings, forms, directories, maps,web pages, etc. Accordingly, the terms book and/or eBook may include anycontent that is in electronic or digital form. The eBook reader device108(1) may present other types of content, such as music, movies and thelike.

In a very basic configuration, the device 108(1) includes one or moreprocessing units 602 and memory 604. Depending on the configuration of adedicated eBook reader device 108(1), the memory 604 (and other memoriesdescribed throughout this document) is an example of computer storagemedia and may include volatile and nonvolatile memory. Thus, the memory604 may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory,or other memory technology, or any other medium which can be used tostore media items or applications and data which can be accessed by theeBook reader device 108(1).

The memory 604 may be used to store any number of functional componentsthat are executable on the processing unit(s) 602, as well as data andmedia items that are rendered by the eBook reader device 108(1). Thus,the memory 604 may store an operating system 606 and an eBook storagedatabase to store one or more media items 608, such as eBooks and audiobooks. The memory 604 may further include a memory portion designated asan immediate page memory to temporarily store one or more pages of anelectronic book. The pages held by the immediate page memory are placedtherein a short period before a next page request is expected.

The term “page,” as used herein, refers to a collection of content thatis presented at one time in a display of the eBook reader device 108(1).Thus, a “page” may be understood as a virtual frame of the content, or avisual display window presenting the content to the user. Thus, “pages”as described herein are not fixed permanently, in contrast to the pagesof published “hard” books. Instead, pages described herein may beredefined or repaginated when, for example, the user chooses a differentfont for displaying the content in the first display. In addition topages, the terms “page views”, “screen views”, and the like are alsointended to mean a virtual frame of content.

An interface module 610 may also be provided in memory 604 and executedon the processing unit(s) 602 to provide for user operation of thedevice 108(1). One feature of the interface module 610 allows a user toenter a pass phrase into the eBook reader device 108(1) for the purposeof requesting a corresponding shared media item stored on the sharingservice 110. The interface module 610 may facilitate textual entry ofthe pass phrase (e.g., via a keyboard), audible entry of the pass phrase(e.g., via a microphone) or entry of the pass phrase in any othermanner. The interface module 610 may provide menus and othernavigational tools to facilitate selection and rendering of the mediaitems 608. The interface module 610 may further include a browser orother application that facilitates access to sites over a network, suchas websites or online merchants.

A content presentation application 612 renders the media items 608. Thecontent presentation application 612 may be implemented as variousapplications depending upon the media items. For instance, theapplication 612 may be an electronic book reader application for rendingelectronic books, or an audio player for playing audio books, or a videoplayer for playing video, and so forth.

The memory 604 also stores a media item sharing module 614 that isexecutable on the processing unit(s) to both share a media item and senda request to the sharing service 110 to receive a shared item, asdiscussed above. The media item sharing module 614 acts in unison withthe interface module 610 to receive a pass phrase from a user. When theeBook reader device receives a shared media item, the sharing module 614stores the item with the other media items 608 stored on the device. Thesharing module 614 may also include an indication that the item is a“shared” item, as described and illustrated below with reference to FIG.11.

The memory 604 may also store user credentials 616. The credentials 616may be device specific (set during manufacturing) or provided as part ofa registration process for a service. The credentials may be used toensure compliance with DRM aspects of rendering the media items 608.

The eBook reader device 108(1) may further include a display 618. In oneimplementation, the display uses electronic paper (ePaper) displaytechnology, which is bi-stable, meaning that it is capable of holdingtext or other rendered images even when very little or no power issupplied to the display. Some example ePaper-like displays that may beused with the implementations described herein include bi-stable LCDs,MEMS, cholesteric, pigmented electrophoretic, and others. In otherimplementations, or for other types of devices, the display may beembodied using other technologies, such as LCDs and OLEDs, and mayfurther include a touch screen interface. In some implementations, atouch sensitive mechanism may be included with the display to form atouch-screen display.

The eBook reader device 108(1) may further be equipped with variousinput/output (I/O) components 620. Such components may include varioususer interface controls (e.g., buttons, a joystick, a keyboard, etc.),audio speakers, connection ports, and so forth.

A network interface 622 supports both wired and wireless connection tovarious networks, such as cellular networks, radio, WiFi networks, shortrange networks (e.g., Bluetooth), IR, and so forth.

The eBook reader device 108(1) also includes a battery and power controlunit 624. The power control unit operatively controls an amount ofpower, or electrical energy, consumed by the eBook reader device.Actively controlling the amount of power consumed by the reader devicemay achieve more efficient use of electrical energy stored by thebattery.

The eBook reader device 108(1) may have additional features orfunctionality. For example, the eBook reader device 108(1) may alsoinclude additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable)such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Theadditional data storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information, such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.

Various instructions, methods and techniques described herein may beconsidered in the general context of computer-executable instructions,such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or otherdevices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. for performing particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. These program modules and thelike may be executed as native code or may be downloaded and executed,such as in a virtual machine or other just-in-time compilation executionenvironment. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may becombined or distributed as desired in various embodiments. Animplementation of these modules and techniques may be stored on ortransmitted across some form of computer readable media.

General Operation

FIGS. 7-9 illustrate a flow diagram showing a process 700 of sharing themedia item 106 stored on the eBook reader device 104(N) of FIG. 1 with agroup of receiving devices 108(1)-(S) (collectively “receiving devices108”). These receiving devices include eBook reader devices that providethe pass phrase 124 associated with the shared media item 106. Theprocess 700 (as well as processes described below with respect to FIGS.15 and 16) is illustrated as a logical flow graph, each operation ofwhich represents a sequence of operations that can be implemented inhardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context ofsoftware, the operations represent computer-executable instructionsthat, when executed by one or more processors, perform the recitedoperations. Generally, computer-executable instructions includeroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the likethat perform particular functions or implement particular abstract datatypes. The order in which the operations are described is not intendedto be construed as a limitation, and any number of the describedoperations can be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implementthe process.

For discussion purposes, the process 700 (as well as processes 1500 and1600 below) is described with reference to the architecture 100 of FIG.1 and the example configurations of FIGS. 2-6. The operationsillustrated in FIG. 7 are thus aligned beneath headings indicatingoperations performed by the entities of FIG. 1.

At 702, the client device 104(1), which is embodied as a desktopcomputer in this example and is shown connected to the eBook readerdevice 104(N), sends a request to share a media item for a predeterminedamount of time to the sharing service 110. For instance, the user 102 ofthe client device 104(1) may send a request to share the media item 106(“Grace's Outline for Criminal Procedure”) stored on the eBook readerdevice 104(N).

At 704, the sharing service 110 receives the request. The sharingservice 110 then associates a pass phrase with this request, such as thepass phrase “Pink Gorilla,” at 706. The service 110 may generate and/orselect this phrase in some instances, while the user 102 may select thisphrase in other instances. At 708, the sharing service 110 sends thepass phrase to the client device 104(1) and/or to the eBook readerdevice 104(N). In either instance, the user 102 receives anidentification of the pass phrase at 710.

At 712, the client device 104(1) or the eBook reader device 104(N) sendsthe media item 106 to be shared to the sharing service 110. In someinstances, the eBook reader device 104(N) provides the item to theclient device 104(1), which then uploads the media item 106 to thesharing service 110. In other instances, the eBook reader device 104(N)uploads the media item 106 directly to the sharing service 110 (e.g.,via a cellular or WiFi network).

In each instance, the sharing service 110 receives the item at 714. Inthis example, the sharing service 110 receives the media item 106 in aformat that is not compatible with an eBook reader device that may lateraccess the item. Therefore, at 716, the sharing service 110 converts themedia item to a format that is compatible with the eBook reader devicethat may later access the item. In some instances, the sharing service110 may convert the received media item 106 to multiple differentformats, each corresponding to a particular format preferred by aparticular device (e.g., a cellular phone, a PDA, different types ofeBook reader devices, etc.).

FIG. 8 continues the illustration of the process 700 and includes, at718, storing the converted and/or the original received media item 106in the storage 114 of the service 110. At this point, the sharingservice 110 makes the media item available to devices that provide thepass phrase 124 associated with the media item 106 within the specifiedpredetermined amount of time.

At 720, one or more devices, including an eBook reader device 108(1),send a request for the media item accompanied by the pass phrase 124,“Pink Gorilla.” At 722, the sharing service 110 receives the request(s)and determines one or more media items that are associated with the passphrase. In the instant example, the sharing service 110 determines thatthe phrase “Pink Gorilla” is associated with a single item, namely themedia item 106. The sharing service 110 then sends at least a portion ofthe media item 106 to the requesting devices at 724.

In some implementations, the sharing service 110 may take into accountthe capabilities and features (e.g., native applications, screen size,etc.) of a receiving device when determining which version of the mediaitem to send to the respective receiving device. For instance, thesharing service 110 may receive a request for a media item from areceiving device that is able to render a format of the media item inits original form, while also receiving a request for the media itemfrom a receiving device that is not able to render that format. In thisexample, the sharing service 110 may send the media item in the originalformat to the former device while sending a modified or converted formatof the media item to the latter device.

In the instant example where the media item 106 comprises a personaldocument of the user 102, the sharing service 110 may provide the entireitem. In other instances, however, the sharing service 110 may provideless than the entire item. For instance, when the shared media itemcomprises a copyrighted work, such as an eBook, the sharing service 110may share a sample of the eBook in lieu of the entire book. The sharingservice 110 or the book publisher may predetermine which portion of thebook share (e.g., Chapter 1 of the book). In other instances, however,the user 102 may specify which portion of the eBook to share (e.g., theportion currently accessed by the eBook reader device 104(N) of theuser). In instances where the shared media item 106 comprises an articlein a periodical, meanwhile, the sharing service 110 may provide some orthe entire article along with a free trial offer for the periodicaland/or a request to subscribe to the periodical. While a few exampleshave been discussed and are illustrated in greater detail below,multiple other sharing scenarios exist.

At 726, the receiving device(s), including the eBook reader device108(1), receive the media item 106. At 728, these devices store themedia item 106 in a local storage of the respective device. At thispoint, each receiving device may render the received portion of theshared media item 106, as FIG. 8 illustrates.

FIG. 9 continues the process 700 and includes, at 730, the sharingservice 110 removing the media item from the storage 114 on the sharingservice 110. The sharing service 110 may do so in response to: (1)determining that the predetermined amount of time that the user 102desired to share the document has elapsed, or (2) receiving a requestfrom the user 102 to “un-share” or remove the media item 106 prior tothe expiration of the predetermined amount of time. In either instance,when the sharing service 110 removes the media item 106 from the storage114, the media item 106 is no longer available to devices that send thepass phrase 124 to the sharing service 110. Finally, at 732, the sharingservice 110 may (or may not) remove the media item 106 from the devicesthat previously received the item, such as the eBook reader device108(1), in response to removing the item from the storage 114 of thesharing service 110.

The process 700 illustrates but one example of how the architecture 100of FIG. 1 may be leveraged to share media items amongst devices, such aseBook reader devices. Furthermore, various details of the usagescenarios discussed above are provided below with reference to FIGS.10-14. However, these examples are non-limiting and the architecture 100may be used to support other configurations and usage scenarios.

Example eBook Reader Device User Interfaces

FIGS. 10-11 illustrate example user interfaces that the eBook readerdevice 108(1) (and the other eBook reader devices of architecture 100)may render in association with the process 700 described above. First,FIG. 10 illustrates a user interface 1002 that facilitates entry of apass phrase for the purpose of submitting the pass phrase 124 to thesharing service 110 to receive the shared media item 106. The userinterface 1002 may be similarly employed to enter any other pass phraseassociated with any other media item that the sharing service 110stores.

As illustrated, the user interface 1002 includes a listing of mediaitems 1004 currently stored on or accessible by the eBook reader device108(1). In addition, the user interface 1002 includes an interface 1006that facilitates entry of the pass phrase 124. While this exampleinterface 1006 comprises a user interface that facilitates textual entryof a pass phrase, other implementations may employ other interfaces thatfacilitate entry of pass phrases in other ways (e.g., audibly). In thisexample, the user of the eBook reader device 108(1) enters the passphrase “Pink Gorilla” into a text box 1008 and then selects an exampleicon 1010 entitled “Get Shared Item!” At this point, the eBook readerdevice 108(1) sends a request to the sharing service for the media item106 associated with the pass phrase, “Pink Gorilla.”

FIG. 11 illustrates the user interface 1002 of the eBook reader device108(1) after the device has received the shared media item 106 from thesharing service 110. The user interface 1002 again lists the media items1004 stored on the eBook reader device 108(1), including the sharedmedia item 106 just received from the sharing service 110. Asillustrated, the eBook reader device 108(1) stores a variety ofdifferent media items, including a personal document (embodied as themedia item 106), an eBook 1102 (“Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall),a periodical 1104 (“Newsweek”), an audio file 1106 (“Hey Ya” by Outkast)and a video file 1108 (“4^(th) Bday Party”).

In addition, the user interface 1002 includes an indication 1110 ofwhich media items are shared media items. Shared media items are thoseitems that the eBook reader device 108(1) has received from the sharingservice 110 and/or those items that the device 108(1) has shared withothers via the sharing service 110. FIG. 11 illustrates that the eBookreader device 108(1) has received the media item 106 from the sharingservice 110, as discussed above with reference to the process 700.

Example Sharing Configurations

FIGS. 12-14 illustrate several example sharing configurations. While afew are illustrated and described, multiple other sharing configurationsare possible and envisioned. FIG. 12 illustrates a configuration inwhich the eBook reader device 104(N) of FIG. 1 shares a personaldocument with multiple content rendering devices 108(1)-(S) (includingother eBook reader devices) of FIG. 1 via the sharing service 110.Because the shared item here comprises a personal document created bythe user 102, the user 102 and the sharing service 110 may share theentire media item 106 with the eBook reader devices 108(1), 108(2), and108(S).

FIG. 13, meanwhile, illustrates a configuration in which the eBookreader device 104(N) shares a portion of the eBook 1102 of FIG. 11 withthe eBook reader devices 108(1), 108(2), and 108(S) via the sharingservice 110. As discussed above, because the eBook 1102 comprises acopyrighted work, when the user 102 requests to share the eBook 1102with the other devices, the sharing service 110 may share a sample 1302of the eBook 1102 in lieu of the entire book. In these instances, thesharing service 110 or the book publisher may determine which portion ofthe book to share. In the illustrated example, for the instance, thesample 1302 comprises the first chapter of the book. In other instances,meanwhile, the user 102 may specify the sample of the book to be shared(e.g., by sharing the portion that the user 102 currently reads, byspecifying invariant reference points in the eBook, etc.).

FIG. 14 illustrates a configuration in which the eBook reader device104(N) shares an article 1402 in the periodical 1104 from FIG. 11 withthe eBook reader devices 108(1), 108(2), and 108(S) via the sharingservice 110. Here, in addition to sharing the article 1402, the sharingservice 110 offers each user of the eBook reader devices 108(1), 108(2),and 108(S) the opportunity to subscribe to the periodical 110 via pop-upbox 1404. The sharing service 110 and/or the publisher of the periodicalmay also offer a trial subscription or the like.

Example Processes

FIGS. 15-16 illustrate example processes for implementing the sharingtechniques described above. Again, while these processes are describedwith reference to the architecture 100 of FIG. 1, these processes mayapply equally in a variety of other architectures.

FIG. 15 first illustrates a process 1500, which includes the sharingservice 110 receiving a request to store a media item for apredetermined amount of time at 1502. In addition, the sharing service110 receives a desired level of security associated with the request at1504.

In response, the sharing service 110 may determine, at 1506, whether alocal copy of the media item is available to the sharing service 110.For instance, the sharing service request and receive a checksum of themedia item from the requesting device in order to compare this checksumto the media items that the sharing service 110 already stores or haslocal access to. Conversely, if the item to be shared is an eBook or thelike, then the sharing service may request and receive a uniqueidentifier (e.g., an ISBN number) associated with the item. Again, thesharing service 110 may then compare this identifier to those mediaitems already available to the sharing service to determine if the itemto be shared is amongst these available items. The sharing service mayalso make the determination of 1506 in many other ways.

In response to determining that a local copy of the item is available,the sharing service 110 obtains a locally-available copy of this mediaitem at 1508. If not, then the sharing service 110 receives the mediaitem to be shared from the requesting device at 1510 (possibly inresponse to a request from the sharing service 110).

At 1512, the sharing service associates a pass phrase and/or anadditional piece of information (e.g., a numerical PIN) with the requestand/or the media item. The size and complexity of the pass phrase maydepend upon the desired level of security, as may the inclusion orexclusion of the additional piece of information. At 1514, the sharingservice 110 converts the item to a format that is compatible with aneBook reader device and stores the converted and/or the original item.

At 1516, the sharing service 110 receives the pass phrase and theadditional piece of information from an eBook reader device, such as theeBook reader device 108(1) described above. The sharing service 110 thenprovides the media item to the eBook reader device at 1518. Providingthe item may include downloading the item, streaming the item, providinga pointer to the item stored at another location or the like.

At 1520, the sharing service 110 queries whether the service hasreceived a request to remove the media item from the user thatoriginally shared the item. If so, then the sharing service 110 removesthe media item 106 from the storage 114 at 1522. In other instances, thesharing service 110 may simply refrain from further sharing of the itemin lieu of removing the item from the storage 114. Furthermore, in someinstances, the sharing service 110 may (or may not) also remove the itemfrom the eBook reader device that received the item at 1518. Thisremoval is represented at 1524.

If, however, the sharing service 110 has not received a request toremove the item, then the service 110 queries whether the predeterminedamount of time has elapsed at 1526. If not, then the process 1500returns to the query of 1520. If so, then the sharing service 110removes the media item from the storage 114. Again, the sharing service110 may (or may not) also remove the item from the eBook reader devicethat received the item at 1518.

FIG. 16 illustrates a process 1600 that the client device 104(1) and/orthe eBook reader device 104(N) of FIG. 1 may implement for the purposeof sharing a media item via the sharing service 110. At 1602, the device104(1) or 104(N) sends a request to the sharing service 110 to share amedia item stored on the eBook reader device 104(N). At 1604, the device104(1) or 104(N) sends an identification of an amount of time for whichthe sharing service 110 should share the item.

The device 104(1) or 104(N) then receives, at 1606, an identification ofa pass phrase associated with the request from the sharing service 110.The service 110 may have associated the phrase with the request aftergenerating and/or selecting the phrase or after receiving the phrasefrom the device 104(1) or 104(N). Finally, at 1608, the device 104(1) or104(N) sends the media item to be shared to the sharing service 110 forsharing with those devices that provide the pass phrase to the sharingservice 110 within the predetermined amount of time.

CONCLUSION

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather,the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms ofimplementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a display; oneor more processors; memory storing computer-readable instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to: provide an indication on the display that a differentelectronic device has shared a media item on a server, the media itembeing available on the server in a first media format; receive, via auser interface of the electronic device, a pass phrase associated withthe media item; provide the pass phrase to the server; receive from theserver, in response to the pass phrase being provided to the server, aportion of the media item in a second media format that is compatiblewith the electronic device, wherein the portion of the media item isconverted to the second media format by the server; store the portion ofthe media item in the memory; render the portion of the media item onthe display prior to receipt of a removal message; receive the removalmessage at an expiration of a predetermined amount of time; and removethe portion of the media item in response to the removal message.
 2. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the user interface is configuredto receive the pass phrase via textual or audible entry.
 3. Theelectronic device of claim 1, further storing the computer-readableinstructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:receive, via the user interface, an indication requesting an additionalpiece of information prior to receiving the portion of the media itemfrom the server.
 4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein theadditional piece of information includes a numerical personalidentification number (PIN).
 5. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein: the media item includes non-copyrighted material; and theportion of the media item includes any or all of the media item.
 6. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein: the media item includescopyrighted material; and the portion of the media item includes asample of the copyrighted material.
 7. The electronic device of claim 6,wherein: the copyrighted material includes an electronic book comprisinga plurality of chapters; and the portion of the media item includes aparticular chapter of the plurality of chapters of the electronic book.8. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein: the copyrighted materialincludes a periodical comprising a plurality of articles; and theportion of the media item includes at least a portion of a particulararticle of the plurality of articles of the periodical.
 9. Theelectronic device of claim 8, further storing the instructions that,when executed, cause the one or more processors to provide at least oneof an offer for a free trial subscription to the periodical or a requestto subscribe to the periodical.
 10. The electronic device of claim 1,further storing the computer-readable instructions that, when executed,cause the one or more processors to: provide an indication on thedisplay that the different electronic device has shared the media itemfor the predetermined amount of time.
 11. The electronic device of claim1, wherein the portion of the media item corresponds a particularportion of the media item previously accessed by the differentelectronic device.
 12. A method comprising: receiving, at a server andfrom a first electronic device, a media item in a first media format forsharing the media item with a second electronic device; receiving, atthe server and from the first electronic device, a first indicationidentifying a particular security level of a plurality of securitylevels associated with access to the media item; receiving, at theserver and from the first electronic device, a request for additionalauthentication information being supplied from the second electronicdevice for accessing the media item; generating, by the server, a passphrase that allows the access to the media item, wherein a complexity ofthe pass phrase is based at least in part on the particular securitylevel; causing, by the server, a presentation of a third indication on adisplay of the second electronic device, the third indicationidentifying the media item along with a request for the pass phrase andthe additional authentication information to access the media item;receiving, by the server via an interface of the second electronicdevice, the pass phrase and the additional authentication information toaccess the media item; transmitting, by the server, in response toreceiving at least the pass phrase and the additional authenticationinformation, the media item to a memory of the second electronic devicein a second media format to enable the second electronic device torender the media item prior to receipt of a removal message; andtransmitting, by the server, the removal message to the secondelectronic device at an expiration of a predetermined amount of time,the removal message to cause the second electronic device to remove themedia item from the memory of the second electronic device.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising, receiving, by the server via theinterface of the second electronic device, a recording of the passphrase via a microphone from the second electronic device.
 14. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising, receiving, at the server, anindication of the period of time to share the media item with the secondelectronic device.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the media itemcorresponds to an electronic book, and the first electronic device isassociated with a user that has purchased the electronic book, andfurther comprising; receiving, at the server and from the firstelectronic device, an indication of a portion of the electronic book toshare with the second electronic device, the portion of the electronicbook being previously accessed by the first electronic device; and inresponse to receiving the pass phrase and the additional authenticationinformation, transmitting, by the server, the portion of the electronicbook to the memory of the second electronic device.
 16. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising, receiving, at the server, an additionalindication that an additional electronic device receives the media item;and in response to receiving, by the server via the interface of thesecond electronic device, the pass phrase and the additionalauthentication information to access the media item, transmitting by theserver, the media item to a memory of the second electronic device. 17.A system comprising: one or more processors; memory storingcomputer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to: receive a media itemand a first indication from a first electronic device, the media itembeing in a first media format, and the first indication including aparticular security level to associate with access to the media item;generate a pass phrase that allows access to the media item, wherein acomplexity of the pass phrase is based at least in part on theparticular security level; send, to the first electronic device, asecond indication that includes the pass phrase; receive, from a secondelectronic device, the pass phrase; provide, to the second electronicdevice, in response to receiving the pass phrase, access to the mediaitem in a second media format that is compatible with the secondelectronic device, the second media format being different from thefirst media format, the access granting temporary permission for thesecond electronic device to render the media item prior to receipt of aremoval message; and provide, to the second electronic device, theremoval message at an expiration of a predetermined amount of time, theremoval message to cause the second electronic device to remove themedia item from memory of the second electronic device.
 18. The systemof claim 17, wherein the memory further stores the computer-readableinstructions when executed by the one or more processors, causing thesystem operable to: receive an input from the first electronic devicethat specifies the predetermined amount of time.
 19. The system of claim17, wherein the pass phrase comprises of one or more words; and whereinto generate the pass phrase further includes the computer-readableinstructions that, when executed on the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to: determine a number of words for the passphrase, based at least in part on the particular security level.
 20. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the pass phrase comprises of a predeterminednumber of words; and wherein to generate the pass phrase furtherincludes the computer-readable instructions that, when executed on theone or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine acomplexity of the predetermined number of words based at least in parton the particular security level.